In the past, the majority of people living in Ibiza were small to medium property owners, with their largest source of income that of agriculture.

For many of those inhabitants, their greatest asset was the abundance of water and natural springs; and the fact that those springs allowed for better irrigation; the result of which was the fertile yield of their land.

More recently, these ancient customs and namely the worship of the water wells and natural springs have been revived, with folk dances being performed around the wells in celebration of a good harvest, and with the petition of abundant rainfall for the coming year,

The Well of Balàfia is of particular importance when it comes to such celebrations, with the 10th August the day chosen to commemorate and give thanksgiving for the gift of the earth’s water and all the produce that springs from it.

Overall, scattered throughout the borough of Sant Joan, there is a total of some fifty-seven such wells and springs to be discovered.